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I have never lived anywhere with so many die-hard sports fans as Chicago. You can’t leave the house without seeing jerseys, rooting fans, or TVs televising live event, and for good reason. There’s not much that compares to cheering on your favorite team and watching them kick butt – except for when the don’t. The all-time best part of football season, however, has to be the food. Even if you’re not a sports fan you still have to eat, and football seasons means lots and lots of food, especially at my place!

When you host friends and family in your home during sporting events it’s kind of expected that you feed them. Thankfully I love doing just that and even more I love when it’s something super easy.

Take these twice baked loaded baked potatoes. They are delicious and so simple to make that anyone can do it. If you have older kids or friends willing to help you can delegate most/all of the work to them. Scooping the potato away from the skin is my least favorite part so I happily hand that part of the process over to whoever is available and willing. I prefer to cook the potatoes in advance so I spend less time in the kitchen on game day.

I’m not ashamed of cutting corners, especially if I can use premium ingredients to do that. La Morena Sliced Green Jalapeno Peppers make it easy to add just the right amount of heat. Whenever I am in the city I stop in to Tony’s Finer Foods because they have an amazing Hispanic section. They always have La Morena products in stock and the prices are amazing.

So, let’s get on with it! Here’s how you can recreate my all-time favorite game day dish!

Start with 4-6 (dry)baking potatoes that have been scrubbed clean. Rub the potatoes lightly with olive or canola oil. Preheat the oven to 400F and bake the potatoes on a cookie sheet for an hour.

Cut the potatoes in half (lengthwise) and let them cool until you can comfortably handle them. Scoop the potato part out carefully, making sure to leave the skin/shell intact. The easiest way to do this is to leave a 1/4 inch layer of potato connected to the skin. Put the potato flesh into a large bowl or stand mixer.

Add 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 tablespoons of milk, 1/4 cup of sour cream, 4 slices of cooked & crumbled bacon (feel free to use the jarred stuff for some extra time saving), 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 3 tablespoons of diced jalapeno peppers, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Blend the mixture well and scoop by the tablespoon into the set aside potato skins.

You can top with a slice of cheese at this step if you’d like!

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes and serve ’em up hot to your guests.

The ingredients are flexible so feel free to add, omit, and change to fit your guests taste buds.

I don’t have a cool prize for you but perhaps you can find one in the list of giveaways going on at Simple Beautiful Life. Instead I’m going to show you how to make what I believe to be the perfect baked potato. It’s fluffy and tender and so full of flavor – yum!

The first thing to do is wash your potatoes. Next we’re going to peel an onion and chop it into thin rings. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Then score the potatoes with a knife.

Next up you’re going to brush the potatoes with butter.

Now sprinkle them with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.

Top the potatoes with the chopped onion. Be liberal if you like onion flavor, if not just use a little.

Sit the potato on a sheet of tin foil, buttered side up and wrap tightly.

Put the wrapped potatoes in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour.

Carefully removed the dish after the potatoes are done and unwrap. You should see a delicious, tender and flavorful baked potato beneath the shiny tin foil.